Governor Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047

September 11, 2015

Governor Brown:

We are writing to you to raise concerns about the potential use of Oregon's National Guard in unauthorized military adventures abroad. Many of our groups were involved in the 2009 effort to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon, hoping to prevent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan under the then- outdated Authorizations for Use of Military Force from 2001-2002. We gathered over 7000 signatures from all over the state. That campaign noted:
* Governor Ted Kulongoski told the Oregonian in October, 2006 that he believed the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq "is making things worse" and that the U.S. should set a strict timetable for getting out.
* Oregon needs its National Guard to respond to wildfires and natural disasters and for search and rescue missions.

We still need Oregon's National Guard to stay stateside, as evidenced by your deployment of troops in late August to help fight wildfires.

The U.S. now has military engagements in Iraq and Syria, ostensibly to combat the Islamic State/ISIS, which have not been granted Congressional approval despite being active far more than the 90 days envisioned by the War Powers Act. Most anyone studying the region will tell you that ISIS is not the same organization as Al Qaeda-- the two even fight each other. Thus, the 2001 AUMF does not cover any deployments to Iraq or Syria. We further believe that the US claimed it would have all troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, so any troops sent there after that time should specifically be authorized by Congressional action.

We sent two letters to Governor Kitzhaber, in January 2013 and April 2014, and received no reply, while roughly 1000 Oregonians were dispatched to Afghanistan and, thankfully, most of them made it back alive.

We would be glad to meet with your or your staff about this issue, and would be encouraged to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Thank you,

Dan Handelman
for Peace and Justice Works (Portland, OR)

S. Jenika, President
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72 (Portland, OR)**

Michael Taylor, father of Iraq combat Veteran
member Military Families Speak Out* (Portland, OR)

Leah Bolger
for Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Corvallis Branch (Corvallis, OR)

John Grueschow
for War Resisters League--Portland Chapter (Portland, OR)

Kelly Campbell, Executive Director
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Max White, Country Specialist, Indonesia and East Timor
Amnesty International USA*

[the following groups/individuals signed on after the Sept. 11 letter was posted]

Michael Carrigan
Community Alliance of Lane County

Wes Brain, Community Organizer
Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice (Ashland, OR)

Dan Davis, President
Rogue Valley Veterans for Peace, Chapter 156

Natasha Beck & Brandy Robinson, co-presidents
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland

Recruiter Watch PDX

(and others)

For the previous letters, see: http://www.pjw.info/guardletter2014.pdf

* organization listed for identification purposes only
**Veterans for Peace was an initial cosigner but left off the letter by administrative oversight

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2013/2014 letters